Great trail! Only hiked 3 miles in. Didnt make it to the lookout tower. Had to turn back to catch the sunset. Will complete it next time! Beautiful! Even ran into 6 bucks leaping out in front of us at twilight.

We really liked this trail, saw a lot of deer and it was moderately well wooded so shade was available for hotter months. We also saw a coyote as soon as we left on the road that was large and fluffy compared to the Phoenix ones. If you go near evening you will definitely see a lot of deer though and it was a beautiful hike. May have taken a longer path by accident but gps said over 10.5 miles.

Great trail, view of the dam briefly but we didn't split off to go down the path that looked like it may have taken us closer. Went in October leaves were changing, scared a snake while walking and almost stepped on it. With leaves on the ground watch your step!

Cool trail. Had some water in the creek. Definitely take tough pants and even long sleeves (even if it's hot) or you're going to get scraped up by thousands thorny bushes that cover the trail path.

There's a creepy abandoned shed a few miles in and abandoned machinery. The actual trail also crosses over what appears to be a man-made set of roadways (maybe for horse and cart when the trail was fully operational?). If you look to the east side of the creek at the ~3 mile marker, there is another shed on the opposite side (could get to it if you hike the creek instead of taking the trail). There is a man-made pathway on that side as well, which took impressive effort. Interested in the history of this place but couldn't find it online.

The trail eventually ends where a forest fire did damage a few years ago. The rock cairns at this point are obviously destroyed and withered, as the trail at this point is mostly abandoned. You'd have to rough and tumble your way further down the trail.

With that said, the overall walkable trail is probably no more than ~6-7 miles and receives quite a bit of traffic since it's so close to Bumble Bee Ranch and Crown King.

I did an out and back to the Spruce Mountain lookout...it wasn't too steep at the outset, but about halfway through I definitely noticed the terrain getting rockier and steeper. I thought it was lovely. There weren't too many people out! I wish I had had more time to do the loop.